THE LOST WAIRUNA.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 245, 13 October 1917, Page 5

THE LOST WAIRUNA.

FINDING OF INQUIRY COURT.

PROBABLY A TIMED BOMB.

DRASTIC REGULATIONS SUGGESTED. SUPERVISION OF "WHARVES AND CARGO. The court of nautical inquiry set up to inquire into tbe loss of the- steamer Wairiina has delivered the following finding through Mr. £. C. Cutten. S.M.. who presided, tlie assessors sitting with him being Captains Adamsoh and Reid: — j I find, and my as>p~«ors ajrree with mc, it'riat there is not sufficient evidence before us to enable us to make a definite finding as to the cause of tin- loss of the s.s. Wairuna, nor a~ to the time or place of such loss, but by eliminating the less probable causes it is possible to form a conclusion of some value. The ship left the port of Auckland on the 31st day of May last for the port of San Franc-isco direct. She did not arrive at the port of San Francisco on iier due date, and no further news of her has been obtainable. It may, therefore, be assumed she has been lost. The cause of her loss may have been the ordinary perils of the sea. including foundering, striking a reef or running "ashore, collision, and fire, or it 'may have been due to enemy action, including in this expression destruction by mine, submarine, or raider, fire arising from the placing of some combustible material on board the vessel, and inter- ' nal explosion from a bomb placed on board tile vessel before her departure from port containing a timing mechanism to delay the explosion until the vessel was well out to sea. NO WIRELESS CALLS. The vessel left the port of Auckland seaworthy, well found, well officered, and I well manned. The evidence shows that duriug what should have been the period iof her voyage line weather prevailed, | and no submarine disturbance or extraordinary happening of any kind has been 1 reported to have occurred during that I tune. Careful search and inquiry by the I owners failed to disclose news of any ; shipwreck or of any wreckage, boats, or anything from which it might be inferred a casualty had taken place. The vessel was fitted with .wireless, and although it was not very powerful t I- probabilities are that if any message was sent out it would have been received by some one of the other vessels -which were (travelling by other not distant routes or j by a receiving station. Evidence was given of the receipt by the operator of the Makura of a garbled message which I did not give tlie Wairnna's call letters. jThe only ground for inferring that it came from the Wairuna is that at the jtime of its receipt in the ordinary course the Wairuna should have been in a position enabling her to send a message receivable by the Makura. This is not sufficient. "Moreover, the operator of the i Makura does not believe that the message came from the Wairuna. It may be (taken therefore* that no wireless message was received from the Wairuna. I Had the vessel takeu fire the probabilities are very great that she could have 'kept the fire' sufficiently under control to 'enable her to get into communication with some other vessel or a receiving station, and in any event she would have had time to launch her boats. Taking the evidence as a whole, we think it improbable that the vessel iwas lost by any of the ordinary perils of the sea. and it is probable the vessel was lost through enemy action. "POSSIBILITIES DISCUSSED. With regard to the form of enemy action likely to have caused the loss of the vessel, we think it is highly improbable the vessel was sunk either by submarine u r striking a floating mine. As to the possibility that the vessel was lost by fire caused through some combustible material being placed on the vessel before leaving port, timed to cause her to take fire when at sea, tlie same considerations apply as in the case of accidental fire, and we think this may be put aside. There remain two other possible causes due to enemy I action. First, that the vessel was taken and destroyed by a raider, and secondly, that she was destroyed by means of a timed bomb placed on board the vessel while in port. There is some evidence of a raider carrying on operations in an area covering portion of the route of the Wairuna. As between this cause of loss and that of a bomb there are some points in favour of the latter cause being the more likely. Nothing definite is known of a raider operating in the vicinity of the Auckland-San Francisco route in June last. The Wairuna should have arrived at San Francisco on the 30th of June. It hardly seems likely that a raider would be operating on the Auckland-San Francisco route in June, and this fact not become known to the Naval authorities before the end of September. On the other hand, the fate of the Cumberland and the Port Kembla is evidence of tbe capacity of the enemy to use tbe latter action in Australasian ports. There is, too, a fair probability that if attacked by a raider the Wairuna would have had an opportunity to send a wireless message. On the other band a violent internal explosion, such as would be caused by a powerful bomb, would be very likely to wreck the wireless apparatus and immediately render it useless. We "think, therefore, it is highly probable the loss was caused by enemy, action either through the operations of a raider, or through the placing of a timed bomb on board the vessel before she left port, and of these two the latter is the more probable cause. ALIEN ENEMY SHIPPERS. In view of our finding there are several considerations to which we feci impelled to refer. The evidence disclosed I that a number of cases were shipped : in the Wairuna consigned by two .firms, , one of which may be described as an ■ alien enemy firm, and the other has , active members of alien enemy nationality. That no precautions whatever are taken to check the contents of packages shipped. That no precautions are taken to search the persons and the luggage of those going on vessels. That insufficient precautions are taken to prevent undesirable persons going on to wharves and vessels and working on' wharves and vessels. That insufficient precautions are taken while a vessel is I in port to prevent persons reaching a { vessel from the sea end of a wharf and from boats going alongside tbe vessel, i Among the witnesses Called at the in- j quiry were the Marine Superintendent, I Lloyd's surveyor, the masters of vessels, I officers in charge of cargo operations, j wharfingers and merchants. These wit-j . nesses were unanimous in tlie expressions ol their opinions where they spoke I to the same matters {

thaf Phl^P - S " of tie M* statea that m his opimon all cargo should be packed under the supervision of an offishouM by - ted T + PP the Government, and c^ d + ther l atter be ke P* under Government control until shipped. He ako suggested detaining the foods S Gov" ernment control for an indefinite time before shipment. Captain Holmes, of the cable steamer Iris, agreed that all cargo should be examined before being shipped. YNith this V iew ever - oth £ uitness wno was in a position to express an opirion agreed. Some of the ,T^ £Se ? ""' »*« farther detail and urged also the necessity of searching all persons gomg on to a vessel and examining all luggage before ' aliowin- "it to be taken on board, and others ur~ed the advisability of not permitting firms with active members of an alien enemr nationality to ship goods. The difficulties were admitted, but the witnesses were 01 opinion that they were not insuperable, and that in no other wav except by examining cargo before it was snipped could reasonable safety from such action as the placing of a timed bomb in a vessel before she left port bo attained. F.VR-REACHING RECOMMENDATIONS The witnesses were unanimous, and as mentioned before, they included the, Marine Superintendent. Lloyd's surveyor masters of vessels, those whose (Uuv v is to superintend the loading of vessels, and exporting merchants. Such an extraordinary consensus of opimon, and of such a weight, cannot be brushed aside. Many of the witnesses mentioned, the necessity for much more stringent precautions than are at present taken to prevent the approach to vessels from the sea yard end of wharves and bvboat. and to obviate the possibility that undesirable men may be employed to work on ships and wharves. In view of the evidence given at _ii_ inquiry we ->_ke the following recommendations for serious and urgent consideration by the Government:— 1. That stricter precautions be taken to-prevent the approach of unauthorised persons to vessels and wharves. 2. That stricter precautions be taken to prevent undesirable men bein" employed on vessels and wharves. -■ That firms having members of alien enemy nationality be not permitted to ship goods. 4. That all persons going on hoard vessels be searched, and all luggage to be taken on to vessels be examined. 5. That all cargo* for shipment be packed under Government supervision, and be retained thereafter under Government control until shipped. 0. Tnat if there are eases where compliance with the immediately preceding recommendation is not practicable in such cases the packages be retained in Government control for an indefinitetime before shipment.